


Curses are the worst

by thegirlwiththerainboweyes



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Enchanted Sleep, M/M, Spells & Enchantments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 09:49:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20374771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirlwiththerainboweyes/pseuds/thegirlwiththerainboweyes
Summary: '“Mal,” Evie said softly, wrapping her arms around her, “it’s not working. You know the history; only true loves kiss can undo your mothers magic.”'When Audrey attempts to get revenge on Mal, Carlos gets in the way and ends up in an enchanted sleep. With the only solution being true loves kiss, Jay needs to sort out his feelings.





	Curses are the worst

**Author's Note:**

> I know I've changed a few things but I mostly just wanted a sappy love story. Enjoy.

Audrey’s eyes glowed the same shade of green as the tip of the staff clasped in her right hand. Her previous pretty pink princess outfit had been replaced with black robes. A small part of Mal’s brain could appreciate the new dark aesthetic, it reminded her of her own taste, but the majority of her brain was focused on her mothers’ staff in Audrey’s hand. Oh, the irony.

“I’ve given this a lot of thought,” Audrey hissed, “how to get revenge. I thought about an aging curse. I thought about turning you into a dragon permanently, see how Ben likes you then. But then it occurred to me, perhaps we should see if your true love really is Ben.” She waved the staff and in front of her materialised a wooden spinning wheel.

“I stole it while I was in the museum,” Audrey said with a smirk, “Now we’ll see if he really is your true love. The spell won’t break if he isn’t. And while I’m at it, I might just get that slut Evie. I don’t really care about Doug personally, but you villains can’t actually feel love. This will prove that.”

Mal felt dread settle in her stomach, she didn’t care what Audrey did to her, but she couldn’t let anyone hurt Evie. Sweet, innocent Evie who only wanted to sell dresses and live in a castle with Doug.  
“Please,” Mal said quietly, “leave Evie out of this.”

Audrey actually laughed out loud upon hearing that, “I didn’t think villains knew manners. No, Evie gets the same treatment. It’s what your mother would do.”  
With that Audrey shot a pink beam from the staff which encased Mal’s body and began drawing her forward. She tried to struggle but the staff was stronger. For the first time in her life, she couldn’t fight back. She needed help.

“Help me,” she screamed, “help”.

She couldn’t turn her head to look at Evie’s castle, but she could hear the clamour of her friends bursting out the door. “Mal!” a voice called but she couldn’t see who. All she could see was the spinning wheel in front of her. Her finger was rising against her will, just inches away from the point.

She squeezed her eyes shut; she didn’t want to see when she pricked her finger. ‘Ben, please help me. Wake me up,’ she thought. Then she felt something crash into her body, pushing her to the ground.  
When she opened her eyes all she could see was white hair. Carlos had tackled her to prevent her from pricking her finger. She stood up and looked around. Evie was standing in front of the kids, protecting them with her body in case Audrey lashed out. But Audrey wasn’t danger anymore. Jay had tackled her as Carlos tackled Mal and had pulled her arms behind her back. 

“Are you okay?” he asked her, concern shining in his eyes.

“I’m fine,” she said breathlessly, “thanks to Carlos.”

Then she realised, Carlos was still lying spread eagled on the ground, having made no attempt to stand up. Evie and Jay were slowly realising how still he was too. “Carlos?” Evie called out, slowly approaching him. “You okay?” Then she screamed and the sound broke Mal’s heart, it was a scream of pure anguish and Mal looked around to see what caused it. But Audrey was still being restrained by Jay.

Then she saw it. The forefinger on Carlos’ right hand was stained red with blood. And so was the spindle of her mother’s enchanted spinning wheel. “Dizzy,” Mal said sharply, “go get Fairy Godmother.”  
As the frizzy haired girl ran towards the school, Mal turned to Carlos. His eyes were shut and still behind his eyelids and his mouth lolled open. Her voice quavered as she recited the spell. “Undo the clock, reverse the tides, turn back time, open his eyes”. Nothing. She tried again. “Undo the clock, reverse the tides, turn back time, open his eyes. Undo the clock, reverse the tides…”

“Mal,” Evie said softly, wrapping her arms around her, “it’s not working. You know the history; only true loves kiss can undo your mothers magic.”  
…  
Fairy Godmother did her best, but Evie was right, only true loves kiss could undo her mother’s curse. Carlos was kept in the infirmary for a few days but as he wasn’t actually sick, they couldn’t keep him there much longer. Fairy Godmother decided that it was best to move him back to his and Jay’s room. So, Jay had to share his room with a roommate in an enchanted sleep. He lasted three days listening to the slow, even breaths that were the only indicator that Carlos was still alive. Carlos was never still, ever. He was always moving. Fiddling and tinkering. Even in his sleep he would shift around. It used to drive the VK’s crazy whenever they crashed at the hideout. But Jay would give just about anything to have it back.

He knocked on Mal and Evie’s door at one in the morning three days after Carlos was cursed. Evie opened the door to find him standing with his shoulders slumped, holding his blanket and a pillow. “I can’t sleep,” he mumbled, “it’s too quiet. I don’t mind sleeping on the floor, but I need somewhere to sleep.”

Evie smiled sadly and opened the door wider. “You’re always welcome here,” she said softly.

When he walked in, he could see Mal sitting up in bed, watching him with tired eyes. “Couldn’t sleep either huh?” she asked as he bent down to set up his makeshift bed.  
“Yeah. I keep expecting to hear him shift in his sleep and he just doesn’t. If I couldn’t hear him breathing, I’d swear he was dead.”  
Evie looked at him for a moment before sitting on Mal’s bed. “Take my bed, I can share with Mal.”  
…  
It became a routine. Wake up in Evie’s bed, sneak back to his dorm, have a shower, go to class, go back to Mal and Evie’s room. He hated being in that room longer than he had to. He knew Evie liked to talk to Carlas. Some days she’d stay out of the room for hours in a desk chair she’d set up beside the bed. When he asked what she’d talk about she said “everything. I know he can’t hear me, but it makes me feel less helpless.” After that he stopped locking the door.

Mal on the other hand refused to even talk about him. Every time someone mentioned Carlos' name, she pursed her lips and if they kept talking, she would walk away. That made Jay angry. He couldn’t say anything for fear of being made to go back to his dorm room, but he felt betrayed. Carlos was her friend and now she refused to talk about him.

It all came to a head one lunch time. Ben walked over and told them that he had sent for Cruella.

“Cruella?” Doug asked, shocked, “why?”

“She’s Carlos’ mother,” Ben said sadly, “she deserves to see him.” Jay scoffed internally. The only thing that Cruella deserved was a jail cell after what she'd done to Carlos as a child.

“How is Carlos? Lonnie asked. Jay sighed internally. She meant well but she asked it every day as though they wouldn’t tell her if Carlos woke up.

“He hasn’t changed” Evie said quietly. At the same time there was a loud scrape as Mal pushed her chair out and moved to walk away. Something snapped inside Jay at that moment.

“For Hades sake Mal, I knew you were the evilest of the four of us, but I didn’t think even you could be this cold,” he snapped after her retreating form. She stilled and the air suddenly smelled of electricity like before a lightning strike.

“What did you say Jay?” she said, her voice almost shaking with anger.

“You heard me,” he hissed, “Carlos is your friend and now you refuse to even say his name. You’re acting like he never existed. I’m not exactly there every day like Evie but I don’t ignore his existence. He’s your friend, act like you at least miss him.”

“I do miss him,” she whispered, “I miss him every day. But every time I hear his name, I remember it’s my fault.”

“What?” Jay said, shocked.

“I was the one Audrey wanted,” she said, her voice growing louder with every word, “but Carlos saved me. It should have been me. Ben could have woken me but instead Carlos won’t wake up and that’s ALL. MY. FAULT,” she yelled the last three words loud enough for the whole cafeteria to hear.

Jay was shocked to see tears brim in Mal's eyes. Without a word she turned and ran from the room. Ben opened his mouth as though to speak, then shut it again and ran after her. Jay moved to follow her, but Evie grabbed his wrist. “Give her time,” she said. Reluctantly Jay sat down. He didn’t see Mal or Ben in any of his classes that afternoon.

He didn’t see Mal until he opened the door to his dorm room that evening. He’d stayed out all evening, but it was curfew and he knew that his invitation to Mal and Evie’s rooms had been officially revoked.

When he stepped in, he was shocked to see Mal in Evie’s usual seat. She was looking at Carlos and didn’t seem to notice his presence. 

“Hey,” he said quietly.

“Hey,” she mumbled, not looking away from Carlos.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t realise how you felt. I was just worried that eventually he would be forgotten. I worry that if people stop saying his name then he’ll be left here forever. I don’t know if we get happy endings, but if we don’t then at least I want his story told.”

“I never thought of it like that,” she responded, “I just felt guilty. If it wasn’t for me then he’d be awake.”

“Audrey,” Jay said.

“What?”

“If it wasn’t for Audrey he’d be awake. No one is responsible for this except Audrey and he would agree.”

“Really?” she asked, fresh tears shining in her eyes.

“Really,” he said, kneeling down next to her.

“Thanks Jay,” she said, wrapping her arm around his shoulders, “We’ll be okay now yeah?”

“Of course.”  
…  
Cruella didn’t arrive for another two weeks. In that time Mal visited Carlos twice more but Jay stayed away. He still couldn’t bring himself to be in that room. He felt stifled, as though Carlos was a vacuum, sucking in all the air.

The morning of Cruella’s arrival was bright and sunny. Part of Jay had hoped it would be dismal, to reflect the mood of the school, but Auradon was never less than perfect. All of the VK’s were standing in front of the school to great her. Mal had Ben with her but the rest of their friends had made their excuses. This was a moment for family.

Cruella looked almost deflated as she stepped out of the limousine. He hair was lank and discoloured and her furs were stained and greasy. She also looked tired, as though she had nothing left in her. The guards hadn’t bothered with handcuffs, she clearly didn’t have it in her to fight. “Jay, Mal, Evie,” she said, her voice husky, “thank you for bringing me over. You too, your majesty.”

“You don’t need titles here,” Ben said kindly, “not when you’re here on such personal business. Would you like to see your room or go straight to him?”

“I just came here to see my son,” she responded, “I’d like to see him.”

“I’ll take you there,” Jay offered, “he’s in our dorm room.”

“Thank you, Jay,” she said in the kindest voice he’d ever heard from her. He was used to hearing her scream after Carlos, or fight with his father, or cackle with the other parents as their children cleaned up after them.

When he pushed the door open, Cruella moved immediately to Evie’s usual seat and held one of Carlos' hands. “I suppose it shocks you,” she said to Jay, not taking her eyes off her son, “seeing me like this. You kids are used to us being the embodiment of evil. I bet you think we don’t care.”

“Pretty much,” Jay responded. He didn’t see the point in lying.

“How does the old saying go?” she asked, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone? When we realsied you kids weren’t coming back we relalised what lousy parents we all were. We wanted to talk to you but Auradon hardly runs a mail service from the Isle of the Lost and Fairy Godmother stopped setting up video calls after we ruined the first one. I didn’t know anything about Carlos’ life until a man came to my house and told me that my only son was in an enchanted sleep and will never wake up. I’d give all my furs, all my money, everything I have really for a chance to be his mother.”

“What would you do if he woke up tomorrow?” Jay asked.

“Whatever he wanted,” she responded, “If he wanted to stay here then I’d get Fairy Godmother to start up video chats again. If he wanted to come home and spoil him rotten. I never appreciated what and amazing, talented son I had until I lost him.”

“Losing him made you a great mom,” he said.

Cruella chuckled, “I wish it hadn’t taken this.”

“We all do,” he responded.

“What happened to her?” Cruella asked him after a period of silence.

“Who?” he asked.

“The girl that did this,” she responded, “they never told me her name. Perhaps they didn’t want me finding her when she was transferred to my neck of the woods.” Then it clicked in Jay’s head.

“You mean Audrey? She’s not getting transferred. She’s still here. No one talks to her, but she still goes to classes.”

A crash resounded through the room and Cruella rose from her chair, knocking it over. “She’s allowed to walk free with no punishment,” she screamed, “We hurt people and they banish us to a life sentence of poverty and misery, but she does this and she gets away without anything. What happened to the ‘fairness’ that these heroes harp on about? Where is fairness for my son?”

Jay sighed, sitting on the side of Carlos’ bed, “There isn’t any, and if you think that Mal and Evie and I aren’t furious then you must have never met us. But we learned from watching you that revenge isn’t the answer, and until we find out what that answer is, we aren’t doing anything.”

“You’re a very wise young man Jay,” she replied, picking up her chair and sitting back down, “congratulations are in order to whoever taught you kids such good life lessons because it certainly wasn’t us.”

He smiled back at her and nothing else was said between them, nothing needed to be said.

Cruella was only invited to Auradon for three days and she spent every second of those at Carlos’ bedside. Upon her departure she pressed letters into Jay and Evie’s hands “Your parents have a lot to say. We all owe you apologies and these probably in no way make up for our behavior, but we wanted to try. I’ve left one in Carlos’ room if he wakes up.”

Jay gave her a tight-lipped smile and stowed it in his pocket. He didn’t know if he wanted to read it but if he did it wouldn’t be out in the open for anyone to see. She gave him a sad smile back, “Think about it before you shred them.”

“Okay,” he replied. He watched her step into the limo and stayed in the courtyard until it had disappeared from sight.  
…  
It had been nearly two months since Carlos had been put into the enchanted sleep and Jay wasn’t coping. Outwardly he was. He went to tourney practice, he went to classes, he ate in the cafeteria with his friends. But in the in between moments he felt tired and empty. When there was nothing to distract him, Carlos’ absence ached like an old wound and he felt so helpless. 

It all came to a head one morning. His alarm rang to wake him up in time for tourney practice. Any other morning he’d slam his fist onto the clock and grumble at Lonnie for these stupid early morning practices. That morning he couldn’t muster the energy to even turn the alarm off, despite Mal’s grumble protests from the other bed. When the girl’s alarms went off, he watched them shower and get dressed from his bed. “See you at breakfast,” Evie said brightly as she closed the doors behind them, leaving him in the blissful dark again.

If he had worse friends, he’d have been able to spend all day in this funk. No one would have bothered him, and tomorrow would be better. But he did have good friends and at 9:00 am, instead of going to first period chemistry, Evie waltzed into the room and sat herself down on what had once been her bed. “Do you intend on getting up today?” she asked firmly but not unkindly.

“Not really,” he mumbled in response.

“Carlos?” she asked.

“Yeah, I just miss him. It hurts and I can’t stop hurting.”

“I feel that way sometimes too,” Evie said quietly.

“What do you do?” he asked.

“I go visit him.”

“Visit him?”

“Yeah,” she said with a smile, “I go and sit in your room and talk to him. I tell him about how much I miss him. I try to be as specific as possible about what I miss. Because that reminds me about what I love about him, I remember the good times and eventually it makes me feel better.”

“If I did do that, would you come with me?” he asked, strength coming back into his voice.

“Always,” she said, beaming.

That’s how he found himself sitting in the desk chair next to Carlos’ bed, the only thing in his dorm room that isn’t covered in a layer of dust.

“Hey buddy,” he said to Carlos, “I supposed you’re surprised I’m here. I’ve been a bit of a hypocrite recently. I yelled at Mal for ignoring you but I’m the only one who has never sat down to talk to you. You must have been bored huh? Without me?” He felt stupid asking a question. Carlos could hardly answer.

“Well,” he continued, “I’ve really missed you. And Evie says that when she misses you, she comes and talks to you.”

Once he started talking, he couldn’t stop. He told Carlos how much he missed his smile, his laugh, training for tourney together and studying and just doing nothing together. By the time he stopped talking, it was lunchtime.

Evie moved from her spot near the door to stand behind him. “If you’re up for it we only have history and art now. You want to go?” she asked kindly, leaving him room to turn her down. But she was right, talking to Carlos had helped lessen the feelings of loss which had crippled him that morning.

“Give me a minute,” Jay replied. He had one more thing to say to Carlos, “Actually, can you give us some privacy? There’s something I need to say to him alone.”

She gave him a smile that was far more knowing than he was comfortable with and left, leaving only him and Carlos.

“There’s another reason I hadn’t visited,” he confessed, “I felt guilty. Because the fact is that I haven’t even tried to wake you up. I love you; I have for years. And instead of kissing you just in case, I decided that it was better to hang on to my shred of hope that you might love me. Because deep down I know that you can’t love me, and if I kiss you, you’ll stay like that, but if I don’t even try then I can’t be disappointed.”

Jay paused to take a breath and look at his sleeping friend. Carlos looked exactly like he had the day he was cursed, same full lips, same black and white hair, same freckled nose. In that moment Jay made a choice.

“It’s time for me to let go though,” he murmured softly, leaning down to brush his lips against Carlos’. He was shocked at how soft they were.

When he pulled back Carlos’ eyes were still closed. He felt as though his chest would implode as his last glimmer of hope faded. But he also felt relief, Carlos wasn’t trapped in an enchanted sleep because of his selfishness.

“Goodbye Carlos,” he said quietly, picking up his bag and walking out the door.  
…  
Usually Jay loved history class. Their current topic was the history of piracy, and although he’d never gotten along with the pirates on the Isle, their parents’ stories were interesting. He particularly liked hearing about the ongoing battle between Peter Pan and Harry’s father. But the crushing feeling in his chest prevented him from paying attention.

He thought he had been ready, but nothing could have prepared him for seeing Carlos’ sleeping face after Jay through caution to the winds and kissed him. The small piece of hope he had was gone.  
Jay didn’t look up when he heard the door swing open. He assumed that it was Jane bringing some message or another for her mother. He wasn’t sure how Jane actually kept up with classes with all the errands she ran for her mother.

He kept his eyes on the board until he heard Evie gasp next to him. He turned around to see what she had seen. There, standing in the doorway with his bag hanging off one shoulder, was Carlos. His face was flushed, and he was panting loudly in the doorway. He’d clearly been running for a long time. “Sorry… Fairy Godmother,” he wheezed, “I slept in… and my phone was dead… and I can’t remember what day it is. I just… ran, all over the school to find out what class I had now.”

Fairy Godmother looked frozen to the spot, “That’s quite alright dear,” she said with her voice shaking. “Uh, how do you feel?”

Carlos’ brow furrowed in confusion, “I feel fine, I guess.” Then he turned to Jay. "I have a bone to pick with you actually," he said, "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Before anyone could continue, Evie leapt to her feet and pulled Carlos into a hug. Jay couldn’t move. He wanted to join Evie, but he was frozen in shock. Carlos was awake, he was okay. Carlos was clearly confused by all the attention he was receiving from Evie. He was awkwardly stroking her hair as she sobbed into his shoulder and looking around the room as though for and explanation.

“Carlos,” Jay said slowly, standing up and walking towards him, “can you tell me what the last thing you remember is?”

“Audrey was trying to curse Mal,” he said softly, “I couldn’t let it happen, I had to help her. I tried to get her out of the way. Then I woke up in my bed half an hour ago. Did something happen to me?”

Instead of answering, Jay grabbed Carlos' right hand and ran his finger over the scar from the spinning wheel. Carlos’ eyes widened, “I didn’t have that before. I caught my finger on the spinning wheel, didn’t I? How long have I been asleep?”

“Two months,” Mal said, wrapping her arm around the still sobbing Evie and gently pulling her off Carlos.

“Two months?” Carlos repeated, dumbfounded, “How did you wake me?”

“We didn’t,” Mal said, “I don’t know what changed. Jay?” she said, turning to him, “You were the last one in his room. Did you see anything?”

It was like Jay had swallowed a stone. He couldn’t speak, he couldn’t breathe. Carlos was looking at him expectantly, but he couldn’t explain. “Jay?” Carlos asked softly, looking into Jay’s eyes. 

Instead of responding, Jay cupped Carlos’ face and pressed their lips together. The kiss was gentle and soft. Jay moved to pull away but then Carlos gripped his shoulders and deepened the kiss. Carlos’ lips were soft and warm, and Jay couldn’t get enough of him.

Jay only pulled away when Mal cleared her throat loudly. “As touching as this is,” she said dryly, “I want a chance to welcome Carlos back to the land of the living too. Just don’t expect a kiss.” All tension left in the room dissipated as Mal pulled Carlos into a hug.  
…  
Mal and Evie insisted on dragging Carlos around the school so that Ben and Jane and the rest of their friends could greet him. Then Lonnie insisted on celebrating so Jay and Carlos didn’t get a moment together until that night. They walked Mal and Evie back from dinner so Jay could pick up his stuff. “You slept here?” Carlos asked, looking at the collection of books and toiletries and clothes the Jay was stuffing into his bag.

“Yeah, it was too weird to sleep in the same room as you. It just reminded me that you weren’t there,” Jay responded sadly. 

“None of that,” Mal said, “he’s here now which is the only thing that matters.”

“Yeah Jay,” Carlos said warmly, “I’m here now.”

When they got back to their dorm, Carlos sat on Jays bed and patted the spot next to him. Jay sat down and wrapped his arm around Carlos’ shoulders.

“We never got to talk today,” Carlos said softly.

“Yeah,” Jay mumbled back.

“What are we?”

Jay sighed, “I don’t know. I love you ‘Los. And I suppose you love me too or you’d still be asleep in that bed. But if you don’t want to be together then I get it. This doesn’t need to change anything if you don’t want.”

“No!” Carlos said sharply, “I don’t want that. I want to be together and kiss good morning and hold hands and pass love notes in class and everything else that comes with dating. I mean, if that’s okay with you.” He finished shyly.

“I’d like that too,” Jay said with a smile.

“Then let’s do this,” Carlos responded, kissing him.

Jay smiled into the kiss, thanking his lucky stars for Auradon’s happy endings.


End file.
